OK a dumb question...Does the battery charger on the PC charge the motor battery too in addition to the house batteries?

I was thinking that we could run down the motor battery if playing music on the surround sound and wondered if the battery charger keeps both batteries charged.

Also, if the battery charger does charge the motor battery could you just run the generator to recharge it when dry camping? Or do you need a portable battery charger to plug into the generator power to charge the battery under the hood.

The converter ( battery charger ) does not directly charge the van battery. It is not all that hard to charge the van battery if it is fully discharged but I would not recommend that it be done on a regular basis. This should be viewed more as an emergency procedure.

Here are two links on how you can get the van battery charged if you run it down.

Thanks, Barry. The only time that we go dry camping is in the desert for a weekend so I will make sure not to run down the engine battery. And, if I do, I have a copy of the instructions for the little white button in my Cruiser book now. My book is getting fat from all my informative printouts.

Latest thing.......Yesterday we decided to take our first spin in the PC...not an overnighter just for a ride. It has been sitting at the house since it was delivered. Too many other things to tend to, including the new puppy. We started it up and drove out of the yard and there was an icon lit on the dash which we assumed meant that maybe the fuel was low. When Kraig delivered our PC he said we had a full tank. Anyway we fueled up and it took 40 gallons to fill the tank. The light did not go off so we decided to forgo the trip down the road since the Ford Manual said that was the "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" indicator light.

This morning I called the Ford dealer in Port Angeles (50 miles away) and Bob took it there. Turns out, after putting it on the computer machine the fault was :"Not able to pressurize fuel evaporative system". He said that at the factory they must have forgotten to reset it after they built the RV on the Ford Chassis. He said it had to have been on when the rig left the factory. So 2400 miles later it was still on......On the bright side, it didn't look like anything was damaged. At least the light stayed off all the way home. Said if the light came on again we might need to get a new part for it.

So we did get a little ride today and all the stuff I had stashed away didn't rattle. Good show. And figured out how to hook up my Ipod to play through the surround sound.

The ""SERVICE ENGINE SOON" indicator light." will come on if the gas cap is not screwed down all the way. When the driver filled the tank before delivery, he/she might not of gotten it tight. Most manuals will tell you to tighten the cap and drive it. The light will go out after three to five restarts of the engine. The system checks are done when restarting. If the light does not reset, then take it in for service. No need to drive a hundred miles for that.

Tom is correct. But the starts have to be cold cycle starts. Simply doing an engine start/stop, start/stop, start/stop excercise will not make light go out. This is generally a normal occurrence on newer engines if the gas cap is not screwed down tightly, regardless of car/truck type.

Also, I wouldn't bet good money on the light being on since it left the factory. It could have easily been initiated on the last fill-up and this alone will not cause engine damage. It's an emission thing.

The new fill-thru caps, in addition to making fueling easier, have all but eliminated this problem.

We took it to the Ford Dealer so they could hook up to the computer and see what was causing the Service Engine Soon light. Before that, on reading the Ford manual, it said that it could be from a number of causes and to have it checked out by Ford Service. Since the only Ford Service is 50 miles away in Port Angeles, we drove there. This was the very first time we started the engine since it was delivered. We had no idea what could be wrong with it. Manual says it could be a problem with catalytic converter or other things. When I fueled up the gas cap was on tight. Had to really strain to get it off. I tightened it up after fueling too.

Now we know if the red service engine soon light comes on maybe it is just that the gas cap was not tightened. Or maybe it is something else. So to be sure we will cold start the engine 4 or 5 times and if it doesn't go out, drive to the dealer to have it checked. Or maybe our local repair shop has the means to check out the computer fault.

The Service Manager at the Ford Dealership was the one who said that the factory probably had not reset it when they finished their build of the PC.

So I have more information to put in my book. Will have a great PC Operating Manual when I am finished thanks to the Forum.

That is good to know. Even though they will not clear a fault from the computer, at least you will know what the fault is. I think the local mechanic also has the machine. Since it was under warranty thought we should go to Ford. Would have been cheaper to just go to our mechanic. Guess we could go local and if it is something that needs to be fixed then drive over to the Ford dealer. We are sort of isolated here on the Olympic Peninsula.

I just use a cheap Harbor Freight code reader... (The Rialta VW engine, that we had before this wonderful PC, always seemed to bring up a code). With it, one can read and clear codes... Cost less than $50 on sale.

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Your Word our Lord is a light to my feet and a lantern to my path... Ps 119